


eagles and letters

by acastle



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Army, Alternate Universe - College/University, Army, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-30 13:09:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3938008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acastle/pseuds/acastle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I love him so much. Wish he were here instead, but it's alright. Why would I stop him from being the hero he's meant to be, yeah?"</p>
<p>"You're a good man, Haz," Zayn says, because he can't really find anything better to say.</p>
<p>Harry looks up at him then, and says decidedly, "He's a better one."<br/> </p>
<p>(Niall is in the armed forces, and Harry is the boy who waits for him at home.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	eagles and letters

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry. 
> 
> (I'm sure there are inaccuracies. I apologize in advance for those.)

Zayn's got no idea why he signed up for this class. He's pretty sure it's got something to do with History of some sort, and Liam said it was pretty easy, and he did need an almost guaranteed A to balance out his majors, but there's nothing he really needs from this class. Art's got history, sure, but he doesn't think he really needs to know about the fall of Magellan or what not.

His seatmate is pretty interesting, though.

He and Harry had become fast friends after the first day, bonding over the fact that they never had a clue to what was happening in class as they passed notes over at the back of the lecture hall, talking about anything other than what was being discussed. He learned that Harry was an Business major minoring in English, and took the class because one of his majors hadn't any more slots, so he decided to take an easy filler class instead. Learns that he's from Holmes Chapel, has a mum and a sister he adores to death, a cat that's pretty useless but he loves it anyway.

Learns that he's got a boyfriend, that they were childhood friends and he's been with him since high school, and he loves him. Knows they're going to get married one day, and Zayn feels his heart warm at that, for some reason. Harry seems nothing but sure about it. But he hasn't seen said boyfriend for more than half a year, he had said with a sad smile. Zayn didn't ask why, feels like Harry is genuinely quite sad about it, but it makes him curious.

 

*

 

He finds out why eight weeks into the semester.

Harry's sat at his usual seat when Zayn comes into the lecture hall, and his eyes are focused on the piece of paper in front of him. He's writing a letter, longhand, Zayn realizes. Line after line, hardly ever stopping, and it's not long before he's reached the end of the page and getting another piece of paper from his folder, and continuing the letter.

Zayn watches him silently, watches him write word after word, his handwriting small and getting smaller and the lines bleed together and he gives it a few minutes before he gives in.

"What's that?" he asks, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. "There's a thing called email, you know."

Harry chuckles, glancing up at him quickly before going back to writing. His smile goes soft, though, a warm pinkish hue spreading across his cheeks, and he answers, "Niall prefers when I write my letters, likes to see my penmanship, little signs of me and all that. He's a twat, but. They hardly have any signal to get email over there regularly, too. So handwritten it is."

"Niall's his name?" Zayn asks stupidly.

"Yeah," Harry says, and he looks so in love at the mention of his name.

"No signal? Does he stay in a desert, or something?"

Harry's smile dims a bit, and his eyes lose a bit of brightness. Zayn immediately feels bad, the ' _sorry, you don't need to answer that, nevermind_ ' on the tip of his tongue, but Harry gets there first and answers anyway.

"He's, um. He's in the army, so."

Zayn feels worse at the words. Feels his chest ache a bit at Harry's sad, resigned expression. "I didn't mean to pry, I'm sorry. That must be hard."

Harry just smiles sadly, with a bit of a shrug. "When he moved to here from Ireland when he was a kid, he knew he wanted to be a part of the armed forces. Naturalized and went into training when he turned 20. He always did love helping people. Never wanted to do anything else in his life but want to see others safe," he says, sounding so proud and fond and surprisingly, not the least bit angry or hurt. Zayn finds himself respecting and admiring Harry that much more. "I love him so much. Wish he were here instead, but it's alright. Why would I stop him from being the hero he's meant to be, yeah?"

"You're a good man, Haz," Zayn says, because he can't really find anything better to say.

Harry looks up at him then, and says decidedly, "He's a better one."

*

Harry seems to be writing more letters, as the weeks go by, so he doesn't talk to Zayn as much, but he doesn't mind.

Always looks so at peace whenever he's writing those letters, as if he were talking to Niall for real. He wouldn't want to disturb that.

*

"I better get to meet him, yeah?" Zayn says as they're gathering their things, the class just having been dismissed.

"You want to meet him?" Harry asks, looking a little surprised as he's stuffing his notebook into his pretentious leather tote.

"Yeah, I do," and how could he not. Harry always looks so happy when he talks about Niall. Like this boy is his literal sunshine and every bit of good that he has in his life and it's so, so sweet and amazing and. He'd quite like to meet him.

Harry quiet for a bit, shouldering this bag once he's done packing, but he eventually says quietly, "Yeah, alright. As soon as he comes back."

*

He knows something's wrong the minute he sits down at his usual desk.

Harry's there, but he's not writing any letters, or anything at all, really. Just sat there, hunched over in his seat, his face in his hands.

"Harry?" Zayn says tentatively, reaching out to touch his shoulder, but thinking better of it at the last minute.

The word hangs heavy between them for a moment, then Harry's looking at him, and Zayn feels his heart drop a bit.

His eyes are red-rimmed, nose quite red as well, and his cheeks are ruddy, not quite wet or stained with tears, but he can tell that Harry had probably been crying for a long while.

Harry shakes his head at the unspoken question that didn't need to be verbalized, and hugs himself. Zayn then notices the shirt he's wearing, and he doesn't recognize it, doesn't seem to conform to Harry's usual taste. He's used to seeing Harry in loose tops, sometimes with weird prints, sometimes sheer, always with only a few buttons done up so that his chest is seen and the antennae of his moth tattoo barely visible, but this shirt.

It's a two-tone baseball shirt, white with yellow sleeves up to his forearms, 'Eagles 75' emblazoned on the front.

"I. Um. I haven't heard from Niall in a few weeks," Harry says softly, his voice wavering. "I'm so scared. I. God. I'm so scared."

Zayn feels his breath catch in his throat, so tempted to cry himself at Harry's tone, but he steels himself, grips Harry's shoulder carefully, ready to remove his hand if Harry doesn't welcome the touch, but he seems to lean into it.

Starts to say, very, very carefully, slowly, "Life of a hero is pretty complicated, yeah?"

Harry nods at his words, eyes closed and a few tears leaking out at the corners.

"Need to save those kittens to save from falling off those trees, sweet elderly ladies to help across the street, you know."

Harry smiles the tiniest bit, but he doesn't say anything.

Zayn bites his lip, and says, more seriously, "Someone needs to be brave for the rest of us who can't."

Harry stays quiet, but he's grabbing at his other hand, holding it tightly.

Zayn takes what he can get.

*

Zayn's pretty sure he's going to fail this class. Stares at the list of topics included for the final exam and nothing looks even remotely familiar. He's going to fail.

Harry comes in, takes his seat beside him, takes one look at the list Zayn had placed on his desk for him, and he mutters, "I've got no idea what any of this means."

"That makes two of us, mate," Zayn says with a sigh. "At least neither of us really needed this, yeah?"

Harry nods, but he's still staring at the paper forlornly.

"Morning, everyone," their professor calls out from the front of the hall as he makes his way to the podium. "Now, I know you lot are panicking over not having learned anything over the semester," he eyes them from behind his glasses knowingly, "but before you do, we've got a guest."

"What," Zayn mutters, and he's not the only one who does. Why would they get a guest lecturer or whatever, a few weeks before the semester is supposed to end?

"Can we not do this now? I've got to cram," Harry pouts, still staring at his paper.

"No such luck, Haz," Zayn replies as the door closest to the platform where the professor is opens, and a man in dress uniform enters the room, beret perched carefully at the top of his head.

It should have been obvious then, but Zayn doesn't realize until he feels Harry freeze up next to him.

He looks at him, confused, taking in his wide eyes and open mouth, but Harry pays no mind to him. Just stares at the man, who's thin but has an otherworldly presence about him, quite larger than life, a peek of cropped, blonde-dyed hair beneath the beret, and blue, blue eyes surveying the room.

It hardly takes another moment before Harry's out of his seat, and Zayn doesn't even have the time to react before Harry's rushing down to get down to the front. But he can still hear him, the telltale signs of him about to break down, and he's rushing and running and the man meets him halfway and Harry's throwing himself into the man's open arms and.

_Shit._

"Niall," Harry says, voice watery and choked, and he's hiding his face in Niall's shoulder, holding on to him so tightly. Squeals audibly when he's spun around, goes on to say, "Niall, Niall, _Niall_."

He's crying then, sobbing, arms wrapped around his boyfriend's shoulders. "You're home. Home. Why didn't you tell me, I. I was so scared."

"Sorry love, wanted to surprise you," Niall whispers, lips pressed against his temple, arms circled around his waist.

Niall kisses him then, cupping Harry's face in his hands, touch so gentle, tender and loving. Zayn feels the urge to cry at the sight, so happy for them, and he knows everyone else in the room feels the same. Can hear the girls _aww_ at them, can see a few of the guys already wiping at their cheeks.

"Hello, love," Niall murmurs against Harry's mouth, and Harry's covering the hands on his face with his own. "I missed you, Harry. So much. I love you so, so much."

Zayn actually cries at that. It's so quiet, he can hardly hear it. Meant just for Harry, and he feels quite bad for having overheard, but.

"I love you too," Harry murmurs back, sounding so happy and his voice is so, so soft. "I was so scared. I thought you wouldn't come back."

"I'll always come back for you, Harry. Always," Niall tells him, kissing him softly again.

"My hero," Harry says. "So brave."

"Well, you're braver," Niall tells him, and smiles when Harry shakes his head at him fondly.

_Both so brave_ , Zayn thinks to himself. _So brave_.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, again.


End file.
